Little Demon Plants
by Suma99
Summary: The X-Men through the eyes of a child. Five-year-old Cat is the daughter of two X-Men, Nightcrawler and Thistle. As she relates her life as a mutant in a world she doesn't understand, with parents doing a job she doesn't comprehend; Cat somehow manages to see things a lot clearer than most adults. Cells sequel. On hold.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: If you recognise it, it's not mine, unless it's Aca, James or Ellie._

_Yes, it's the **Cells** sequel that I said I'd write!  
_

It's my fifth birthday today! So the first thing I do is run into Mummy and Daddy's room and bounce on the bed to get them up. Daddy laughs and hugs me. Mummy mutters something that I should never, **ever** say and then tugs the quilt over her head. Daddy rolls his eyes.

"Want to wake her up Cat?"

I'm Cat. My real name is Catherine Eleanor Wagner. Mummy named me after Aunty Kitty and Auntie Ellie. I live at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters where my parents teach. Well, Daddy teaches German and Drama and Mummy is the school doctor because Dr McCoy, or Uncle Hank, teaches Science.

I grin and Daddy grins back. Then he starts tickling Mummy, who makes some noise that sounds like 'mmmh' and then I leap on her and start tickling. She sits bolt upright.

"KURT!"

"Good morning _Akazie_. Have you forgotten it's our daughter's birthday?"

"Cat, it's…four in the morning. You can stay with us, but try not to wake me up."

Mummy doesn't like people waking her up before seven. Aunty Kitty says that Mummy always hated getting up and once slept for two years. I'm not sure how she slept for two years, only that she wasn't in any photos for **ages** and Daddy looked very upset. I asked Mummy if she was like Sleeping Beauty and Mummy said a **very** rude word and went off to shout at Aunty Kitty. Mummy says the rude word again now.

"-! I forgot to wrap the present."

Daddy sighs and grins.

"Come on Cat. Let's go back to sleep while Mummy panics about your present."

"Will I like my present?"

"Oh yes."

"What is it?"

"It's a surprise."

Mummy runs out of the room, so sleepy she's forgotten to take the flowers out of her hair. Mummy's a mutant, like almost **everyone** in the school. She can grow pretty flowers on her hands and hair and arms. When she sleeps, flowers grow on her head. It's funny! Daddy is blue and snuggily and warm. And he has a **tail**. I got upset when I saw a demon in a picture book and he looked like Daddy. Daddy laughed and said he was blue so he couldn't be a demon, could he? Daddy's very smart like that. I asked if he wasn't a demon, then did that mean Uncle Warren isn't an angel and Mummy muttered something that sounded like 'Warren is the most self-serving angel I've ever met'. Mummy and Uncle Warren aren't very friendly. Daddy said Uncle Warren wasn't a **real** angel, he just looked like pictures of angels, but angels are of God and so we can't imagine what they look like, because we can't imagine what God looks like. Did I say Daddy was smart? I mean he's smarter than Uncle Hank, and Uncle Hank can answer **loads** of really difficult questions, like why I get really hyper in bright light (it's to do with clorifil or something) and why Ollie looks like a tree (he's an oh-mega mutant with planty things or something).

Ollie's my baby brother. Everyone says I look like Daddy only I'm dark green not blue, but Ollie's like Mummy. Ollie is all covered in bark and he has leaves for hair. Daddy lets me snuggle up and Mummy comes back and snuggles up on the opposite side of me so I'm nice and warm between them. And I know that they'll always be like that for me. Always!

* * *

_**A.N.** Yes, I promised. And here it is. The Cells sequel, even if it isn't through Aca's eyes. So, Cat... Think Aca's stubborness, Kurt's curiosity and both her parents' habits for finding trouble. Squared. I almost feel **sorry** for Aca and what she's going to have to go through raising Cat..._


	2. Chapter 2

When I wake up, Mummy and Daddy have somehow managed to snuggle up around me. Mummy's eyes are open and she's smiling at me.

"Happy Birthday Cat."

"Morning Mummy. Is it time to open presents yet?"

"Yes. Rec room."

I leap out of bed and run down the corridor shouting happily. When I leap into the room I want to laugh because Mummy's **clever** and got Daddy to teleport her into the rec room so they'd all be there when I got in.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAT!"

Uncle James, who's my only **real** uncle picks me up by the ankles and grins.

"How's my favourite niece today?"

"Old Uncle James. I'm **five**."

"Are you?"

I giggle because Uncle James is so **funny**. Auntie Ellie rolls her eyes.

"Let her down James. It'll mess her brain up to have blood in her head all the time."

"So **that's **why my dear sister is so crazy. She used to love being upside-down."

"JAMES!"

Uncle Logan grins and Aunty 'Ro hugs him. Mike, their son who's **old** because he's **fifteen** grabs me off Uncle James and starts running around the room with me on his shoulders.

"Want the horse to jump the presents Cat?"

"JUMP!"

He leaps and hovers over the big pile of presents. Aunty Kitty laughs and steps in front of Mike, letting him pass through her but catching me around the waist and tickling me.

"Happy Birthday Catherine Eloise Wagner!"

"Can I open my presents now?"

Daddy laughs.

"Of course _Kätzchen._ It's your birthday."

Kätzchen is his nickname for me. It means Kitten in German. I know lots of German. Daddy's German. Mummy's Scottish. Scottish, not English. She told me that when I was very young. And Jubilee, who should be Auntie Jubilee but says that makes her feel old, showed me a video of Mummy getting very angry when Jubilee called her English. Aunty Betsy **is** English and she's going to **marry** Uncle Warren. Mummy said something rather quietly under her breath when Aunty Betsy told everyone. Mummy and Uncle Warren aren't best friends. Mummy won't talk about it but according to Aunty Rogue, Uncle Warren really liked Mummy and everyone **but** Mummy and Daddy knew that Daddy really, **really** liked Mummy and Mummy really, really, **really**liked Daddy back. So Uncle Warren is angry that Mummy married Daddy and became Mummy. Or something like that… It's silly. All adults are silly.

The first present is from Mummy and is a little red and white version of Daddy's X-Man costume that's just the same as the ones you can buy in shops, only made with unstable moles. Or something. I don't see how a mole can be unstable. Daddy goes purple and everyone bursts out laughing.

"Got the Elf's costume just right Aca!"

Uncle Logan seems to think it's really funny. Uncle Scott rolls his eyes and Auntie Jean insists on taking me out to put it on. Rachel helps me. Rachel's fourteen and she's Auntie Jean's and Uncle Scott's daughter. And I really think Mike **likes** her. Like **likes** likes. When I go back in, Daddy gives me a big fancy hairband covered in flowers and Mummy and Daddy give me my big present which is to go to see Granny and Granddad Oakly in Scotland. YAY! Uncle James and Auntie Ellie bought me a load of big colouring books and pens. Uncle Johnny and Jubilee got me a fairy dress in blue because it goes with my fur. At least that's what they **said** but I think I heard Jubilee say something about Scotland.


	3. Chapter 3

I love my birthday. Last year, Uncle Scott and Auntie Jean took me on the Blackbird. Rachel gave me a model. This year she got me a Thistle doll. Mummy's Thistle. She gets called that by loads of the students and by Daddy and all my Aunties and Uncles when Mummy goes off to hit bad people. I don't understand that. Mummy says I shouldn't hit people, not even Taz who annoys me all the time. Taz is Jubilee and Uncle Pyro's son but I don't know how he can be because they're not married. Mummy says you don't have to be married to have kids but I don't get that.

But Taz annoys me **loads**. He's six and thinks he's **so** big. But he's not. I know he still wets the bed. His idea of my birthday present is a baby book that **Ollie** could read. Mummy likes to joke that I'll end up married to Taz but that's **never** going to happen. Taz is stinky and stupid.

Mummy is talking to Daddy in the corner quietly and I bet it's about another big present so I go over to see Uncle Hank. Uncle Hank is cool and funny. And smart. He's very, **very** smart. Like, third smartest person in the world after Reed Richards and Bruce Banner. I reckon he's smarter than Henry Pym, cos Yellowjacket does some really stupid stuff and Uncle Hank never does.

"Hi Uncle Hank!"

"Hello Catherine. How are you?"

"I'm **five**."

"I know. I was there when you were born, five years ago. I saw you first."

"Really? What about Mummy and Daddy?"

"Mummy had other things on her mind and I believe your Daddy was having his hand crushed."

"Why?"

"Your mother needed your father so she had someone to yell at for 'getting me into this mess in the first place'. It made my job a whole lot easier. I think she only threatened to encase me in an oak tree once. And when she saw you, she was so happy, she just smiled so very much. And then insisted on making you a blanket of flowers to go over the one your grandmother had knitted you."

I still have both blankets. Mummy pressed the flower blanket and I take it out every now and again. The petals are all soft and papery. They were a part of Mummy. Mummy loved me so much, that when I was born, she made me a blanket out of herself. Mummy walks over, looking sad.

"Cat, I'm sorry, but the influenza vaccine has come in and I can't delay the shots anymore because we've already got two students down with it and I have to go and give everyone a shot. I'll be back in an hour or two. Enjoy the party. Can you keep an eye on her Hank?"

"Of course my dear. Nothing would give me greater pleasure. I must say, it **has **been a pleasure to have you and your teammates finally call me by my first name instead of the ridiculously formal Dr McCoy."

"Thank you Hank."

Mummy kisses Uncle Hank on the cheek and hurries off. Auntie Lorna hurries over.

"Has Aca run off **again**? For heaven's sake, it's her **daughter's **birthday. Can't she ever slow down?"

"Now now Lorna. We all know that Acacia is a doctor at heart and always has been."

"Even when she was on the streets Hank? I heard she was a regular firebrand before I turned up."

"Yes. Her temper **has** evened out a lot."

"Yeah, being shot did even her temper a lot."

"Mummy was shot?"

Auntie Lorna freezes.

"Dammit! I forgot she was Aca's kid through and through!"


	4. Chapter 4

"Mummy was shot?"

"It was a long time ago and she was ill for a very long time but she got better."

"Mummy was shot?"

"KURT!"

Daddy bursts in existence beside me.

"You called, Lorna?"

"I may have accidentally told Cat about Aca's…er…**accident**. You know. The 17th birthday one."

Daddy says some German he says I should never, **ever** say.

"We **said** we were going to tell her when she was older!"

"I am older Daddy. Tell me!"

He sits down.

"On your mother's 17th birthday, I took her out to have a picnic-"

"In February. Kurt, you do know you're an idiot?"

"Yes, **thank** you Lorna. Well, I was just getting brave enough to tell her that I loved her and some bad people attacked us. And Mummy did what Mummy used to do then. She fought like a tiger, a cornered, outnumbered tiger. And they shot her. And Mummy, clever, clever Mummy turned into a tree."

"Really? Mummy turned into a **tree**?"

"Yes. I admit, it surprised me as well."

"And she turned back."

"Eventually."

"Mummy's cool."

"I know."

"Can she turn into a tree for me?"

"She could. But she always forgets something when she turns into a tree. It's rather amusing."

I grin at Daddy.

"Are we going anywhere special today?"

"Not today darling. Mummy has a plan, I think."

"Really? What is it?"

"Ah, ah, ah. It's a surprise."

"Tell me!"

"If I didn't, it wouldn't be a **surprise**, would it?"

I try and try but Daddy won't tell me where we're going.


	5. Chapter 5

"Close your eyes Cat."

"Mummy!"

"Eyes. Closed."

"But…"

"**Closed**."

When Mummy uses that tone of voice, you do as she says.

"Now, are you peeking?"

"No!"

"Good. Kurt, if you please…"

Daddy teleports us somewhere and I try very hard not to peek.

"Can I look now?"

"Not just yet."

"Please…"

"No."

"Mummy!"

"No, _Kätzchen__._"

"**Daddy**…"

"Kurt, if you **dare** spoil the surprise, I will never forgive you."

"I wouldn't **dream** of it _Akazie_. You've always had me absolutely terrified of you."

"Kurt! You can open your eyes Cat."

I do and squeal excitedly. Lain out on my bed is a yellow and black junior X-Man uniform with my name on it and a communicator.

"YAY!"

"I **told** you she'd love it, Aca."

"I'm didn't disagree! Now Cat, I want you to have the comm. on you at **all times**, understand? If something goes wrong, you press this button here three times and we'll come running."

"Yes Mummy."

Trust Mummy to turn my present into a way of keeping me safe. She panics too much about me. But Uncle Logan's even more panicky than Mummy, so I suppose I can't complain. Logan threatened to have Mike **chipped**! Mummy hugs me.

"You're a lovely girl Cat. So stay safe for me. Please…"

I roll my eyes. Mummy is so senti- sentimen- **soppy** at times.

"Yes Mummy."

She hugs me tighter.

"Mummy, that hurts."

"Sorry."

She's **crying**! Mummy's **crying**.

"Are you sad?"

She sniffs a bit then shakes her head.

"How can you be **five**?"

"It's easy!"

"No dear… Oh, don't worry Cat, it's just your old mum being all sentimental… It should be your dad doing the crying… He's always been the soppy one."

"I resent that comment."

Mummy smiles at Daddy.

"Excuse me, you're the one who locked yourself in your room and cried your eyes out when you yelled at me after James recognised me."

"I was **nineteen**!"

"Then you started bawling when Amanda had to dump you, and you cried when I was in hospital after you-know-what and then you cried when we found out about Cat and-"

"Alright, maybe I **am** the sentimental one."


	6. Chapter 6

My birthday was over a week ago and everything's back to normal here. The Professor's present was given to me at lunchtime, when everyone got cake, even the students. It's really funny, because the Professor's only ever called the Professor, even by Uncle Scott who's **ancient**! No, really! He's like forty-six! And the Professor is really, **really** old. He's **sixty-two**! I know he's that old because we had a big party for him when I was three. Mummy made him a big wreath of flowers that had 60 on them and Uncle Johnny had set up loads of candles for the Professor to blow out but they all went out because the Professor used his mind-ready thing to get Uncle Johnny to put the candles out and everyone laughed.

I'm sitting in the rec room looking at Mummy and Daddy's wedding photos. Mummy looks beautiful in her dress made of white roses with tiny blue roses woven into it. Apparently she decided that buying a dress was just ridiculous and made her own, out of pretty flowers. Daddy's just smiling and Auntie Kitty's hugging Mummy as all the others all stand around looking happy. Mummy's expression is funniest. She only gets that look when she can't believe something has happened. But she's happy, so I think it's alright. Mummy's beautiful. When she isn't coming out of the medi-lab swearing at idiot bigots or has just come back from an X-Man mission. Then she's usually grumpy and swears a lot. Mummy swears almost as badly as Uncle Logan. Don't tell anyone but I'd much rather face a mad Uncle Logan than a mad Mummy. Uncle Logan's just a big softy. Mummy's as hard as mahogany.

When I was little, someone tried to hurt me because Mummy's an X-Man. I don't really remember much because I was **tiny** but I still sometimes have nightmares about the screams. Then Mummy was holding me and telling me everything would be alright. Mummy would **never** let anyone hurt me or Ollie. At times I think she'd rather die than let one of us get hurt. Daddy's a lot calmer than Mummy. I think it's good. It's like they're a set of scales. Totally flat. Daddy calms Mummy down. Mummy gets Daddy to stay here. More than once Daddy's come back and shouted that we're not staying here anymore and we have to go but Mummy always gets him to agree to stay. I'm glad. This is my home. I don't want to live anywhere else. I love having all my aunts and uncles and the students are great fun. There's a photo of Mummy and Daddy's class when they left. They're all in their brand new uniforms that all students get on graduating. Before that they have to wear the yellow and black ones. Mummy's is **cool**. It's green with hints of purple and a belt made with a pattern of leaves. She now has a small blue rose buried in the belt as a reference to Daddy. And Daddy's uniform has a small leaf pattern on his shoulder. Uncle Bobby called them a pair of old romantics but Mummy just grinned. That was good. Normally she'd threaten to wrap Uncle Bobby in willow branches. Apparently she's done it before when he's annoyed her, only she says another word that I'm not supposed to say at all. If I said a word like that then Mummy would threaten to wash my mouth out with soap. Auntie Ellie's almost as bad. Daddy says it's because Mummy and Auntie Ellie used to live on the streets so learnt to swear really, really badly. Mummy can come up with some **amazing** curses when she's angry.


	7. Chapter 7

Taz waves my present from Rachel above his head, the pretty doll of Mummy complete with X-Men uniform.

"Give it here Taz! This isn't funny!"

"Come and get it Cat!"

"You -!"

I shout the rude word Mummy calls Uncle Bobby when she's mad and then I hear Mummy's voice.

"Catherine Eloise Wagner! **What** did you just say?!"

"Nothing!"

She storms in and glares at me.

"Catherine, **what** did you say?!"

"Nothing Mummy…"

She reaches out, gets the doll off Taz and **stares** at him. He gulps.

"She said…"

"I don't want to hear this from you Taz! I want to hear what she said from Cat's own mouth."

I lower my head.

"Cat…"

It's her warning tone.

"What did you say?"

"I…I…I said…abadword."

"And who taught you that bad word? Because I will come down on them like a tonne of Blob. You should **never** say that word. Who taught you?"

"You did."

She stops, considers then sighs.

"Do as I… No, that's **not** the proverb for this occasion… Cat, don't say that word. I'm grown-up, I can say that. You are five. You can't."

"But Muummmyy…"

"No buts. Now, promise me you'll never use that word."

"I promise…"

"Good girl. Now go and find something to do that doesn't involve fighting Taz, pranking students or getting into trouble."

"But **Mummy**…"

"Vamoosh! Shoo. Go bother your father."

I run off and then hurry into Daddy's Drama classroom.

When I run in he smiles at me, which means he hasn't heard that I said a bad word. Daddy takes bad words worse than Mummy. Mummy gets angry. Daddy gets **disappointed**. You always feel terrible when you disappoint Daddy. He doesn't **say** anything but he just looks at you so sad and you feel really,really, **really** bad, cos he trusted you and you let him down.

"Hey Cat. Perfect timing! Can you remember the Artful Dodger lines? This class is **terrible**."

I grin. Daddy taught me the Dodger lines as a joke when I was four and I still remember them. Sometimes we act out scenes to his classes to show them how it's done. Daddy grins then starts his lines. He's barely got out a line before the alarms go and he sighs.

"Class dismissed because someone's either trying to blow up something or we've got a distress signal. Cat, go… Oh. It's a Grade 1, so Mummy won't be in the infirmary… Cat, go and play with Taz, okay?"

"But Daadddyyy…"

"Cat, please, don't push this."

He vanishes and I take out my feelings by kicking a box of costumes. Oh well. I suppose if we play Hide and Seek I'll be doing as Daddy asked, but I won't have to see much of Taz. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

"TAZ! OI, Spark-Head!"


	8. Chapter 8

I hide in the corridor. Taz will never, **ever** find me here. I peer into the hanger. Mummy took me down here once. We were waiting for Daddy.

Then the Blackbird lands and I hide in the shadows because Mummy and Daddy told me that I was never to come here alone. Then Uncle Scott charges off the plane.

"BEAST! I NEED THAT STRETCHER RIGHT NOW!"

And Uncle Hank charges up the ramp and there is lots of screaming and shouts and I don't know what is going on. And then Uncle Hank and Auntie Lorna run down the ramp with something on the stretcher. It looks like a lump of burned wood. Why are they carrying a burnt log?

And they run past me and I see the face in the wood. It's Mummy… Daddy staggers down the ramp, leaning on Uncle Logan, gasping out. He sits down on a bench near to me.

"She… she wasn't even…a threat… _Gott_. She was just getting the civilians out of the way… And he attacked her… She was screaming and screaming and he kept on burning her… And I could do nothing…"

"Elf, there wasn't anything you **could** do. She knows the risks. We all do. We go against some sick monsters and she's fought worse. Think about Ring."

"I'd rather not."

"Elf, she knew what she was doing. Going wood like that? She was protectin' the kids behind her. She's always been like that."

"But she knew… She's terrified… She hates fire… You know how she's scared of it… But she just kept spreading out her branches until…until… she couldn't even control it anymore… She was just burning and screaming… She was screaming for me… I could hear her scream my name, over and over and over again and I couldn't do **anything**…"

And then Uncle Logan does something I've only ever see him do to Auntie Ro and Mike. He just hugs Daddy and whispers softly "It's alright, it's alright, it's alright. Everything'll be fine."

And Daddy starts crying. Daddy **never** cries! So I run out and hug him to, asking over and over "Mummy'll be alright, won't she? Won't she?"

Daddy looks shocked that I'm down here but he doesn't tell me off, only hugs me.

"I…I don't know Cat… I don't know…"

"Daddy…?"

Daddy always knows what to do. **Always**. And Uncle Logan just looks really sad.

"Thing is kid, we **don't** know. We can't tell until Blue's done his stuff."

"But… Mummy's going to live. Isn't she? She's a hero and heroes don't die. Uncle Logan? Daddy? Heroes never die, do they?"

And Daddy just looks at me very, **very** sadly and I know what he's going to say, even before he says it.

"Cat, **everybody** dies."


	9. Chapter 9

I hate them! I hate them! I hate them all with their uniforms and their plane and their silly, stupid X-Men! Mummy is lying on a bed and I'm not allowed to see her and Daddy is **crying**! Daddy never cries, but the X-Men made him cry! I hate them all. I hate them…

I turn on the TV, to try and stop crying but it's the news. I'm going to change channels but the story makes me stop.

_-in Salam Center today. The X-Men arrived and one of the team of mutants started to get bystanders to safety, only for these horrific scenes to happen…_

Mummy is standing there waving some kids to get out of the fight area and she spots a little kid no older than Ollie. She runs over and scoops him up before running towards the people watching. Then a man with a flamethrower lands in front of her and Mummy dodges, shielding the kid and then the flames hit her back and she **screams**… Huge branches go out and the kid's in his mum's arms but Mummy is still screaming as she tries to get out of the fire and I hear her shout out Daddy's name and then she stops screaming and just curls up and the branches slip back into her and she's just lying there when Uncle Logan tackles the man with the flamethrower and holds his claws right above his throat and I just want him to stab down and stab and stab until there isn't anything left of him but Uncle Scott grabs his hand and I want to yell at him that the man deserves to die for what he did to Mummy and Daddy's trying to pick Mummy up and I see him shouting for help and then Auntie 'Ro has whipped her cape off and Mummy's levered into it and Daddy and Uncle Logan and Uncle Peter and Auntie 'Ro all grab a corner and hurry Mummy into the Blackbird and Mummy reaches out a hand and grabs Daddy's arm and he leans in to hear what she's saying but I can tell from the tilt of his head that he doesn't know because she's so badly hurt and then the newsreader is back on.

_Shocking scene there, from Salam Center… In other news…_

"Cat? Turn that off **right** now!"

I turn to see Uncle Scott and I charge at him and start hitting him in the stomach.

"I hate you I hate you I hate you!"

"Cat?"

"You let him go, you let him go! I hate you, I hate you, I **hate** you!"

And Uncle Scott just wraps his arms around me and starts sniffling as well and I'm so surprised I can't even yell at him anymore.


	10. Chapter 10

Uncle Scott just collapses into a chair and looks at me.

"Cat… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

"Uncle Scott?"

His hand runs down his face.

"I had a choice. I could let Logan kill the man –and believe me, I wanted him to- and risk losing Thistle; or we could concentrate all our efforts in getting her to the Blackbird and back here as quickly as possible. I chose to try and save Aca. And… And right now I'm wondering what good it's going to do… Maybe I should have let Logan kill him…"

I scramble up onto the arm of the chair.

"Uncle Scott?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it difficult…? Being an X-Man?"

"In a word, Cat, **yes**. We save lives, help people and they still call us mutant freaks."

"Why do you help them then? Why don't you join Maggie?"

"Maggie…? Oh, you've been listening to Logan again, haven't you? Well Magneto believes that mutants are superior to humans and should rule over them. We believe that we can peacefully co-exist."

I blink.

"Why can't we just live separately?"

He smiles at me.

"And that's the third option none of us want. By segregating ourselves, we'd just be **asking **for us to end up at war."

I blink.

"Why do people hate us?"

"Cat?"

"I saw the Avengers fighting on TV once. Hawkeye was hurt –not as badly as Mummy- and people ran over to help him. Why did no one help Mummy?"

"Because they're afraid, Cat."

"Why are they afraid of us? Daddy can't **really **hurt people. Not like some of the Avengers –like Wonder Man- can. And Wonder Man used to be bad but they still help him. And Mummy's never hurt anyone who didn't try and hurt someone else first and she makes pretty flowers so why do people try and hurt her?"

Uncle Scott pinches his nose.

"I'm going to tell you something no one likes to talk about here. A few years before you were born, your mother and Uncle Bobby were planning to leave."

"Together?"

"No. Not together. Bobby was going to go to Antarctica and your mom was planning to go to Brazil."

"Why?"

"Uncle Bobby was planning to stop the ice melting and Thistle was going to stop the logging."

"That's good, isn't it?"

"No Cat. It wasn't. You see, to do that, they wouldn't be able to be human anymore. Your mom would be a tree in the forest and only able to keep the trees alive. Uncle Bobby would be spread out over the entire continent. They would die in a way."

I blink.

"Why were they going to do that?"

"Because people really hated mutants then and your mom thought it would help if mutants were seen to be saving the world in a very everyday fashion. Your dad managed to talk them out of it. He said that giving people an easy way out wouldn't make them change their ways. Instead your mom went to the Amazon for six months to find different plant types and copied their DNA. She brought back specimens for Uncle Hank and do you know what?"

"What?"

"She found over two hundred different species. Lots of them have medical applications. And because she knows their DNA, she can stop them from dying out."

I bite my lip.

"But if Mummy dies…"

And Uncle Scott hugs me.

"She won't Cat. She won't. I promise."


	11. Chapter 11

I curl up outside the door to the Medi-Lab. Mummy should be out by now. She should! I bite my lip. I don't want Mummy hurt. She **can't** be hurt. Mummy's in…inde-thingummy. Like Captain Scarlet. Only not dying horribly every episode. Mummy curls up and watches that with me when I'm ill. And Thunderbirds, and Stingray, and Fireball XL5, and Joe 90. Taz says they're stupid, but that's because Taz… doesn't appreciate entertainment of a high calibre than blowing up stuff. Or something… Mummy said that to me.

"Cat?"

Daddy's standing there. I hold out my arms and he kneels down to hug me.

"Is Mummy alright?"

"I…I don't know, Cat. Here."

We sit with our backs to the door, Daddy hugging me. Aunty Kitty comes over with Ollie.

"Here."

Ollie snuggles up between us, leaves tickling my nose. Normally I'd push him away but instead I hug him. I'm not going to moan, because Ollie doesn't understand. Daddy hugs us both and rocks slightly. Aunty Kitty bends down and kisses his head before turning to go.

"Aca's a survivor, Kurt. We all know that. She'll pull through. She **has** to."

Daddy doesn't look up so when he speaks, he does it into my hair.

"Thanks, Kitty. I hope you're right."

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"If Mummy… If Mummy dies, what will you do?"

"She won't. I promise you, Cat. Uncle Hank won't let her die."

I sit in silence for few minutes.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Can we go and sit somewhere else? I don't like it here."

Daddy picks Ollie up in one arm and walks to Mummy's office. I jump up into the chair she keeps for me and swing around, glancing up at her old video collection. Jubilee likes to tease Mummy about having videos but Mummy likes them. She says they remind her of when she was little. When things were good. And then she hugs me and tells me that now things are good again, we can watch videos. I can't sit still any longer so I jump up and grab a video down at random and shove it in the player.

_They crash him, and his body may burn.  
They smash him, but they know he'll return  
To live again._

I rewind it back to the beginning and stick my thumb in my mouth as Captain Scarlet chats to Captain Brown. Daddy makes an odd noise when Scarlet shoots the bad guy in the opening sequence.

"Cat, you **watch** this?"

I pull my thumb out of my mouth.

"Mummy loves it. I love it."

And then I stick my thumb back in my mouth. The first time I watched this, Mummy sat next to me and hugged me when it was scary.

If I concentrate hard enough, I can feel her hair tickling the back of my neck.


	12. Chapter 12

I've watched five videos and Daddy's long ago stopped commenting and is watching it with that glazed look in his eye he gets when he's utterly amazed by something. If I'm lucky, he'll be able to watch it with Mummy and me. Yay!

That is, if Mummy lives…

I bite my fingers and Daddy absent-mindedly pulled my hands out my mouth. I snuggle up further and tug at his gold cross. He glances down and smiles softly. Just like Captain Scarlet is a Mummy and me thing, going to Mass is a Daddy and me thing. Mummy always said she'd go when mutants were accepted. Daddy said Mummy's never been good at organised religion. Something to do with an argument over whether plants had souls at her wedding.

And then Uncle Hank bounds in, grabs Daddy around the shoulders and cheers.

"We managed to get her conscious and once she was, she was able to speed up the natural cell division –after all, she regularly rewrites her DNA- and she's awake –a trifle delicate maybe but awake and alive and she's going to live!"

Daddy just looks at Uncle Hank for a long moment and then he slumps down into the sofa and bursts into tears. Uncle Hank pats his shoulder awkwardly then picks up Ollie.

"Come on, my little flora specimen. It's time for your daily chlorophyll test. Can't let your chloroplasts drop below safety levels else your mother would do something incredibly inventive to my insides and use my fur as a throwrug."

He smiles at me.

"She's already threatened to turn me into a blanket for you, Cat, if she isn't allowed out of bed tomorrow. For a doctor, she really hasn't got the hang of 'bed rest'…"

He ruffles my hair and smiles.

"Kurt, you better go and see her. She's been threatening everyone non-stop and I've had to pull an ash sapling from Logan's ear. I must ask her about that, it was really most impressive…"

Daddy jumps up and vanishes in a puff of smoke. Uncle Hank smiles at me.

"Stay here. I'll sent Kitty to keep an eye on you."

"Uncle Hank?"

"Yes?"

"Mummy never was going to die, was she? She just wanted to scare us all."

He pauses then smiles.

"I must say, that sounds like Acacia."

* * *

_**A.N.** Since I now appear to have a life outside writing (help, it's horrific!), I'm going to have to stop writing one of my stories and you know, start living. If you don't want it to be _Little Demon Plants_, go vote. Thanks! (For _MTJAK_ followers, don't worry, I've written forty or so chapters in advance)_


	13. Chapter 13

Mummy looks up from the bed. Her hair is short but she looks fine otherwise. She glares at Uncle Hank.

"This is **stupid**, Hank, and we both know it! I am perfectly fine and you're just babying me, once again."

"Acacia, my dear, I am far too afraid of your retribution to **ever** do anything as incendiary as 'baby you'. You would turn me into a rather interesting lining to a coat."

"Can I get up then?"

"No. As your doctor, I forbid it. Gosh, I miss when you were **good** at obeying me."

"Was I ever?"

"No. Although I **do** remember a time when you managed to spend seven weeks in the Infirmary without trying to escape."

Mummy frowns.

"Hank, I was **traumatised**. I'd just gone and- Oh, hi, Cat. Didn't see you there."

She looks guilty, like she was about to say something she shouldn't. But then she smiles and holds out her arms.

"Heard you got Dad hooked on Captain Scarlet. Good for you, Cat-girl!"

I hurry over and clamber up onto the bed to hug her. She doesn't smell like she normally does, which is of mint and rose and lavender and strawberry and jasmine. Instead she smells of nasty medicine. She notices me wrinkling my nose and laughs.

"Oh, Cat! You're so **fussy**! Come here you! Let your ol' mum give you a hug."

"You aren't **old**."

"Aww. Look at her, Hank, she's got her father's ability to flatter down to a tee."

"My dear, she also has your stubbornness, your inability to listen to figures of authority and your sarcastic nature."

Mummy laughs.

"Yes, I still wonder why Kurt married me. He's a saint and I'm two steps away from damnation most of the time."

"Now, now, don't be **too** hard on yourself."

"You said it. I'm stubborn, sarcastic, pig-headed and a trouble-maker. Remember that six month period when all Logan called me was 'Firebrand'?"

"How can I forget? Especially with the way you stopped him."

Mummy smirks and hugs me again.

"I love you, Cat. So very, very much."

I snuggle up.

"I love you too, Mummy. I love you too."


End file.
